Glitch In The System
by Freaks Inc
Summary: Hesitant steps. Familiar. Object enters left field of vision. Human. Female. Scarred face plates. Black head strings. Blue optics. Stares. Stare back.
1. Hope Is The Thing With Feathers

_"Test four thirty-seven yielded no new results. We still have no way to decipher the way the files are coded."_

_"We'll move on to using direct links. Attatch the equipment directly to the circuit boards, and record the information being sent in that way."_

_"This is a one-way test, Roberts. There's no guarantee the robot will keep functioning if we damage its hardware directly."_

_"Look at it. After everything we've done, I don't think it's even capable of returning to how it was before."_

_"...Very well. Proceed with the neural uplink. Tessly! Contact the Overlord base and see if they have anything we could use."_

_Footsteps._

_Heading away._

_A sigh._

_"Alright," A voice mutters. Designation: Roberts. Footsteps closer. Enters sight. Organic. Male. Many creases on faceplates. "Let's see what makes you tick."_

_Moves out of sight. Above head. Sound. Sparks? Electricity jumping. Intrusive movement in cranial unit. Hurts. Hurts! HURTS!_

_Unauthorized memory loop. Pain reprieve. Escape._

_Play._

_**-understand your concerns, Optimus, but with the way things are now..." Ratchet argued, glancing down at me. Smiling, I wave up at him, offering a small building block in an attempt to gain a playmate.**_

_**"Ratchet, I can not. Losing Elita was hard enough; to be seperated from our sparkling..." Creator trailed off, casting me an anxious look.**_

_**"That's why I don't want you losing her! Even though the decepticons were defeated, there are still rebels out there calling for your energon! If they find out you have a sparkling, they won't rest until she's offline." Ratchet argues back, refusing to back down.**_

_**"I can not just send her off! And there is nowhere to hide her..."**_

_**"I'm not saying 'shoot her into space in a stasis pod', I'm saying, give her a guardian. A strong one. Let them hide in space until we know it's safe."**_

_**"What if they were to follow her?" Creator asked quietly, his faceplates revealing his worry.**_

_**"We'll randomize the space bridge destination. No records. We'll send them the okay signal, and they'll send us their co-ordinates. When it's safe. No one, not even us, will know where they are." Silence followed this statement, and I looked up at the mechs to see why. They seemed to be having a staring contest, which was silly. Ratchet always won those.**_

_**Creator vented a sigh, and I giggled at his loss of the game, causing him to look at me. "Very well," He conceded, "Contact Ultra Magnus. Tell him, I have an indefinite mission for him."**_

_**Ratchet nodded and walked off, a set look on his faceplates. Leaning down, Creator picked me up and I let out a giggle at the height. "You are going to go on a trip with Ultra Magnus. Will you behave? For me?"**_

_**Nodding, I chirred, "I'll be good for Uncle Magmus." A slight twitch on Creator's liplates indicated he wished to smile, but for some reason, he never did.**_

_**"Good." He praised me, "Hopefully, it won't be a long tri-**_

_Loud bangs sounded throughout the room. Screams. Thoughts not complete. Something stealing thoughts. Crashes. Yellings. More bangs. Can only observe, not think._

_Noises fade. Faint scuffling. Footsteps. Odd. One set similar, other two, unfamiliar. One unfamiliar is light, clicky. Second is heavy. Clanks. Metal, perhaps?_

_Stop outside door. Hear beeping, silent mutter. Everything is quiet a moment. Too long. Door broke?_

_Hissing. Door not broke. Opens with a beep. Hear a filter. Motors. Breathing._

_"Keelah!"_


	2. That Perches In The Soul

_Waiting. Did processor crash? Can't think. Don't know. Too quiet... What happened?_

_Faint scuff sound. Ah yes, breathing, filters... motors..._

_Friend or Foe?_

_Doesn't matter. Dead anyway. Magnus gone... Spark altered... Can't feel Creator... Want to offline._

_Hesitant steps. Familiar. Object enters left field of vision. Human. Female. Scarred face plates. Black head strings. Blue optics. Stares._

_Stare back._

_Human turns head away._

_"Tali?" Voice muffled. Wasn't muffled before. Damaged audio processor? Possible. What was I thinking again?_

_Light clicky steps. Slow, hesitant, but sure. Purple form enters vision. Unrecognizable. Shuttering optics. Still indeterminate. New being perhaps? Noting differences directly to memory. Full face visor. Filter apparatus over presumed oral area. Hood. New note: Glowing optics behind face mask. Robot, perhaps?_

_"Keelah... I... I... __**What**__ was Cerberus building?" Filter lighting up with each word._

_Familiar... Why?... Oh yeah..._

_Whee__**ljack..." Ratchet growled angrily.**_

_**Looking up at the big bot, I waved to him. His optics flickered over me and softened a bit, and I giggled as I felt several scans pass over me.**_

_**Ratchet's attention flickered back over to Uncle Jackie. "**__**What**__** were you thinking? Bringing a sparkling into this disaster zone you call a lab..." Uh-oh... He sounded angry. Going still, I hoped I would remain unnoticed.**_

_**"Well," Uncle Jackie began, his helm-fins lighting up with his words, "I was thinking th**__at these readings just don't make sense, Shepard. Every program used today, even Cerberus programs and VI's, don't cause signals like this."_

_Shuttering optics. Ratchet and Wheeljack disappear. Human female reappears. Other being gone. New being in vision. Glowing optic. Lacking of face plates. Fatal wound in chest. Robot._

_Automatic attempt to open wireless link. Failed. Attempt again. Failed. Attempt again. Self diagnostic runs instead. Wireless adapter missing._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_What?_

_When?_

_Attempting to access memory logs. When did they take it?_

_Attempting to access memory logs. When? WHEN?_

_Attempting to access memory logs. Wait._

_Command withdrawn. Re-run self diagnostic. Memory core intact. Sensory signals sending, but not recieving._

_Leeching._

_They're leeching my memories._

_But... but... Who am I then?_

_"Shepard-Commander," Re-route memory commands to spark. Not as easy, but I'll know who I am. Wait, the robot just spoke. Optics darting to the robot, I stare at it and wonder if it was built using tech from me. It doesn't look like it... but I don't know that for sure._

_"Find something, Legion?" The human female asks. Out of line-of-sight. When did that happen?_

_"Negative, we have noticed an irregularity that is similar to the heretic coding." The robot spoke, but it seemed it was looking straight at me._

_"Are you saying this __**thing**__ was made by the Reapers?" The filtered voice asked._

_"Negative," The robot responded, "Origins cannot be verified."_

_"Then spit it out, Legion, what'd you find?" The human voice spoke as the human re-entered my vision, standing next to the robot in my right peripheral._

_"Erratic coding has very baseline pattern that indicates nothing signifigant in most cases, but has priority in the program. Heretics had similar coding, but each Heretic had the same baseline coding that could not be changed. This robot is displaying its own unique code that is changing. Such thing is unheard of, even in the geth consensus."_

_The human looked at him, the area between her optics crushing together as the furry lines above her optics rose. "In english, please."_

_The robot finally looked away from me and looked at the human. "This robot is sentient. It is, aware."_

_Everything was silent as the human looked over to me. "It... knows we're here?"_

_"We are uncertain, but from observing the miniscule movements of its optics and the slight change in the pattern of its programming, it would be safe to say it has some level of lucidity." The robot replied._

_Looking straight at me again, the human leaned over me a bit. "If you can understand me, blink once for yes, and twice for no."_

_Blink? Shuttering my optics once in confusion, I noted the human seemed surprised._

_Looking past my field of vision, the human said to something above me, "Tali, this thing just blinked!" Oh... Shuttering. They call it 'blinking'... weird._

_Some soft sounds and the re-appearance of that purple person. "What?" Looking between me and the human, she hesitated a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Can I... ask it a question?"_

_"Go ahead, I guess." The human stated, sounding bewildered._

_Looking down at me, I focused on the purple being as it stammered, "What are... Are there... Are you sentient?"_

_I was surprised. The humans before always asked each other questions about me. They never asked me anything. Focusing back on the present, I blinked once, and I heard a pause in the being's breathing._

_"Hey," Looking back at the human, I listened as she asked, "Did Cerberus create you?"_

_Cerberus? Sounds familiar, but no. My Creator was Optimus Prime, not some Mech or Femme named Cerberus. But, since I couldn't say that, I just shuttered my optics twice. The human's face scrunched up between the eyes again. Odd. "Did the Reapers build you?"_

_Reapers? Never even heard of them. Besides, Uncle Jack, Uncle Wave, and Ratchet helped build my sparkling shell, not some 'Reapers'. So, again, a double shutter._

_Everyone was quiet again, and I didn't like the silence. This was the first conversation I had had in a long time. Albeit, I couldn't talk..._

_"Shepard-Commander, We have a request." The robot stated, looking at the human._

_"What's it you want, Legion?" The human asked, looking at the robot._

_The robot shifted on its feet before stating, "The unit is not responding to wireless pings indicating it is either missing the required hardware, or has disabled its wireless connecter. We would like to request permission to merge our programs so as to have direct communication. And answers."_

_Looking hesitant, the human asked, "How can you be sure this thing won't hack you instead?"_

_"We are not hacking." The robot spoke. "We are creating a hardline connection and requesting access. We have also created multiple firewalls and reinforced them so as to resist any hacking attempt. We only require your permission."_

_As the human looked between me and the robot, a strange feeling flowed through me. I was nervous, yet excited. Something that felt like a cross between dread and over-whelming joy crashed over me, and it took me a moment of sorting through my thoughts to realize what it was. _

_Hope._

_For once in... Primus knows how long, I had __**hope**__._

_The human bit her lip, and I stared at her, pleading, wanting to speak, to call for help, to be free._

_Our eyes locked, and she stared, blue boring into blue. I dare not shutter, I dare not break the link. Her brow furrows again, an unasked question on her lips. Closing my optics for a long moment, then re-opening them, I see her determination, and I feel as if Primus had just given me a gift._

_"Legion," The robot looks towards the human, "Do it."_


	3. And Sings The Tune Without The Words

_Intrusive movements in cranial unit. Pain, but not a lot. Memory pushing for attention, I push it away. Sensing a glitch forming. Unsummoned memories at inopportune times... Post-traumatic stress glitch? Possible._

_Click. Vision fades. Unconcious? No. Sense something else. Door? Poke through it. Many optics. All staring at me. Data presented. Absorb. Integrate. Understand. These are Geth._

_Look around. A lot of Geth here... Wonder how many._

_More data presented. __**'What are you? Why are you here? What is your purpose?'**_

_Curious. Compile my own data. Send it through. __**'I am a Cybertronian. Please specify, 'here'. I am to hide until called.'**_

_Brief pause. A nano-click. More data. __**'Why are you in a Cereberus facility? Hide from what? Summoned by what?'**_

_Hmm... There's that Cerberus name again. __**'What is Cerberus? Hide from Decepticons. Summoned by Creator. May I make a request?'**_

_Near instant reply this time. __**'Cerberus is organic pro-human organization focused on the advancement of the human species in whatever way possible. Not always protecting humans in the process. What is your request?'**_

_I hesitated, worried for a moment. This thing didn't have to comply to my request... but it was my best shot. __**'My chestplates are locked closed. Please pry them open, and extinguish the ball of light hidden beneath them.'**_

_A long pause. Does it realize I'm asking it to kill me? __**'For what purpose?'**_

_No... No, please don't ask me that. Gathering data into another packet, I sent over, __**'It will offline me. Permanately.'**_

_Alarm raised throughout the Geth.__** 'Does not compute. Why do you request we offline you? Is life not preferable to death?'**_

_The glitch tried pushing a memory forward, but I pushed it back, regaining control of my scrambled meta. __**'Death is preferable to suffering. I am gravely wounded, but not fatally. I will not survive much longer without proper aid, and I do not know of any medi-bots nearby that can help me. I have suffered for a long time. There is no one I know nearby, those linked to me are gone, and I wish to rejoin the Matrix. Please...'**_

_A long pause. Too long. __**'You can feel pain?'**_

_Surprise. That... wasn't what I was expecting. __**'Yes. Can't you?'**_

_**'Negative. We are Geth. We are synthetic. Synthetics do not feel. We do not feel.'**_

_**'Is that what you truly believe, or what everyone else says?'**_

_A very long pause. So long. Did they leave? __**'We will acquire aid for you.'**_

_Leaves before I can protest. Link broke. Despair. Glitch pulls me into a sea of memories. I just wanted.__**..**_

_**Looking up at Uncle Magnus, I chirred, "Where we goin', Magmus?'**_

_**Chuckling, he looks down at me and says, "We're going on a long trip. We'll be away for a while, but when we come home, you can play with as many sparklings as you like."**_

_**Eyes brightening, I sat up straight and asked, "Weally?"**_

_**Smiling broadly, he answers, "Really."**_

_**Clicking and chirring in happiness, I lean back onto his chestplates, thoughts running around my head on what we can play. My thoughts wander and become slower as Uncle Magnus's spark lulls me to sleep. Closing my optics, I listen to the steady, Bump, ba-bump, bump, ba-**__bump, bump, ba-bump, bump, ba-bump._

Wait, is that his spark beat? As quickly as it appears, it disappears. Whining, I feel through the darkness to try and find it, but it's gone, as if it was never there.

"What happened?" A worried voice asks. Familiar. Feminine, human.

"I-I don't know! I was trying to get its speakers back online, so we could communicate, but I must've hit something I shouldn't have!" Filtered voice. Also feminine. What is that odd sound? I wait a moment, focusing on it, when I realize something startling.

Chirring and clicking and whining. I had my voice back. I was... crying. Unshuttering my optics, I tried to reign in my emotions, and the clicking and chirring stopped, but the whine only lowered in pitch.

Looking down, I saw servos dancing in and out of my sight, working on my neck. I felt the wires being cut, fused, moved, but I couldn't bend my neck to lift my helm. Staring up at the ceiling sadly, I noticed something startling. The ceiling was different. No longer were there bright lights right above my optics, instead, there was a smooth metal surface.

Looking around as best I could without moving my helm, I noted a wall to my right with a door in the center. Above my helm was a blacked out screen, and to my left was space until I could barely see another wall. Looking down, I saw three forms, two of them familiar.

"It stopped. I don't know if that's a good or bad sign." A new voice stated. It was feminine also.

Hearing the sound of metal clanking on metal, I listened as the filtered voice stated, "Without fully knowing what I'm doing, it could mean any number of things. The technology I'm working on is just so... alien. I've never seen anything like it."

"How far out of our league are the aliens that built this thing?" Another familiar feminine voice asked.

"That's the thing, Shepard. The hardware is so simple, yet... elegant. The pieces move together so smoothly, it's almost... organic-like. If I had to rate the technology on this thing, I'd say it's most similar to the Geth's." The filtered voice answered.

The sound of metal meeting metal continued, and a soft set of footsteps approached me. The human female from before stood next to my head and looked down at me. Her eyes bore into mine, seeming suspicious, yet curious at the same time. "Any idea what the creators of this robot intend it to do once it's called?"

"No idea. There are no weapons on it; it doesn't have a lot of surveillance tech on it; there's not much it could do." answered the filtered voice.

Not really thinking what I was about to attempt to do, I crackled, "RetUrn."

The room went silent and the human just stared at me. "You can speak now?"

"BareLy." Warnings were popping up on how I shouldn't be speaking with a voice box as damaged as mine.

Small clicks approached me and the purple being appeared in my left field of vision. "Robot, what is your purpose in returning when called?"

Robot? Does she mean Drone? Wait, I'm no drone. "Vitam."

"What?" The human asked, looking confused.

"My desiGnation iS not 'Robot', it iS Vitam." I replied, my voicebox glitching on certain parts of words.

"Well, Vitam, what will happen when you're summoned by your creators?" The female human asked, cocking an eyeridge plate at me.

"I will return." Thinking over that a moment, I added, "If able."

Looking down at me with a curious yet confused look, she asked, "What will happen when you return?"

Becoming confused, I answered, "I... do not know. I can not predict the future."

Glaring at me, the human asked, "What are you programmed to do upon returning?"

Returning the glare, I replied, "I am nOt _proGrammed_ to Do _anyThing_."

"Shepard-Commander." A synthesized voice spoke. It also sounded familiar. "We have a suggestion." Listening to the clank of metal on metal, I watched as the robot slowly entered my limited field of vision. His optic turned right towards me, then remained locked on mine.

"Permission to speak freely, Legion. What'd'ya got?" The human spoke, watching the robot, Legion, closely.

Breaking the staring contest, Legion looked towards the human and asked, "We would like to request permission to communicate with the robot-"

"Vitam." I interrupted, gaining their attention again. I would _not_ be called a drone!

Shifting the focus of his optic, the robot said, "We would like to request permission to speak with designation-Vitam about information obtained previously."

Narrowing her eyes at him, the human seemed to contemplate something before permitting, "Go ahead, Legion."

Nodding at the human, the damaged mech walked over to me. Once beside my berth, he looked down into my optics. Whether it was for intimidation or some other reason, I wouldn't be swayed. "You have claimed to be Cybertronian. Explain."

Okay. That was unexpected. Glancing down and seeing the human watching me closely, and the purple suited being pretending not to, I turned my optics back towards the mech and answered, "What's tHere to ExplaiN? I aM a CybertRonian. What aRe You?"

Tilting his head curiously, he answered, "We have already answered that, but we will repeat it. We are Geth. Is your memory damaged?"

Thinking back, I winced slightly as a small shock jumped circuits in my helm. A memory, dredged up from the cloudy storage of my spark, indicated, yes, he, _they_, already told me that. "No." I answered, focusing my optics back on the Geth. "My cirCuits are dAmaged from tHe... WhAt diD you cAll theM? CerBerus huMans?" It was so hard to recall that information... Memories couldn't be refined before being stored in the spark, so everything seemed... vague.

"How long were you in Cerberus captivity?" The human jumped in, slinking a little closer to my berth.

Looking up at the ceiling, I dove into my memories to find a time stamp or something to indicate the time... but all my files were corrupted. There wasn't a single memory, a single sense or function or process those slaggers didn't corrupt.

"Vitam?" I heard the human ask hesitantly, sounding concerned.

"Too long." I whispered, for once not having static mar my speech.

The human looked about to say something when Legion asked, "Are you in pain?"

I felt a masochistic smile creep on my face as the purple being began saying, "Robots don't-"

"Yes." I interrupted, staring straight at the ceiling.

Tilting his head, Legion asked, "What can we do to alleviate your discomfort?"

Barking a static-filled laugh, I answered, "What cAn yoU do? WhaT caN yOu Do?" I stopped laughing and stared up at the gray ceiling, unconciously tracing a seam through it. My meta hurt from all the hacking, and there had to be enough glitches to give even Soundwave a conniption. Most of my armor was missing, which wasn't really a big deal. The real problem was bits of my protoform were missing, and with my self-repair system unresponsive, the gaps just sat there, continuously sending out pain signals.

I could probably list every little thing wrong with me physically, but none of it added together could compare to the pain in my spark. Two bonds. Just two. One to my Creator, and one to my uncle turned Guardian. To not feel either of them... To not have a pulse to sync up with, to reach out to, to just _feel_...

It hurt.

It hurt too much for words.

The subtle sound of metal scraping on metal caught my audio, and I looked over at Legion, who seemed to be shuffling around a bit. Nervous, perhaps?

Feeling the energon dripping from my optics, but not able to bring myself to care about the wasteful loss of energy, I asked, "Why? Why DidN't you juSt deaCtiVate Me?"

Plates above his optic shifted, trying to imitate some emotion or another. "Data inconclusive."

Staring at him for a moment, I fell into recharge, thinking, _Yeah right._

Looking at the scarred Geth, Shepard narrowed her eyes at the AIs. Legion seemed to detect her gaze, turning his flashlight of a head to look at the first human Spectre.

"Something you wanna share, Legion?" Shepard asked, trying to keep herself from growling. It was bad enough she was completely lost on this situation, but she couldn't have one of her own crew keeping secrets from her.

Shifting plates above his optic in a mockery of raised eyebrows, the Geth form replied, "There is no imperative data to share at this time."

Feeling irritated and just a tad offended, Shepard growled out, "Oh, so knowing the robot can feel pain isn't important? Or that it wants to die? Or that it's-" Glancing over at the bot, she stared at the odd fluids leaving tear-tracks - _robots don't cry... do they?_ - down the robot's face. "It's crying."

Glancing down at the bot, Legion replied, "Designation-Vitam is unresponsive. It is unlikely it is aware of the fluid leak."

Doubtful, Shepard went up to the robot's right side, looking down at the metallic face. It looked so... so damaged. Her mind easily translated the face to something more organic looking, transferring the creases and dents and fluid into scars, bruises, and tears. Why was it so hard to see this thing as just another robot?

"Tali." Shepard spoke up, making the timid quarian jump at the sudden address. "Do you think you could find the leak and patch it?"

Bobbing her head, the engineer answered, "Sure, Shepard. No problem."

Pulling herself away from the table so Tali could work her magic, Shepard looked at the Geth and said, "Legion, a word, please."

Walking over to the door to the AI core, she paused and let Legion enter first, then followed him in. The door slid shut with a near-silent, 'shnick', behind them.

Standing stone still, the Geth waited patiently for Shepard to speak. Sighing, Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to know everything about this unknown robot on _her_ ship... But she couldn't if her crew members kept secrets from her.

"Legion, I need to know everything that happened when you hooked up to the robot. What did you learn? What did it learn?" Shepard began, pinning the robot with her signature, _Do what's right and just tell me,_ look.

To the untrained eye, Legion looked unphased, but Shepard had spent enough time with him to recognize the subtle hum of motors that wanted to move, but didn't for the simple fact _Geth don't twitch_.

"All information given has been shared." Legion answered, his optic following Shepard's every movement.

"What about information gained? Like the bit about _it feeling pain_." Shepard demanded, fully in her commander role.

"The given information was unnessecary at the time. However, current circumstances seem to demand the information be shared. Designation-Vitam asked us to offline it... Permanently." Legion responded, somehow conveying uneasiness.

"So it wanted its data wiped... Why? Is there a secret it's hiding from us?" Shepard asked, concerned. If this robot knew something vital, it wouldn't be good to lose that information.

"Negative." Legion answered, still somehow looking uneasy. "Designation-Vitam was..." Here Legion hesitated, piqueing Shepard's interest. Legion _never_ hesitated.

"Go on." Shepard prompted, anxious.

Changing tactics, Legion said, "We asked if life was not preferable to death. Designation-Vitam responded that death was preferable to suffering." Legion went silent as Shepard absorbed that tidbit of information.

"Shepard-Commander." Legion spoke, gaining the human's attention.

"Yeah, Legion?" Shepard responded, her earlier anger dissolving as she tried understanding the simple information. It was understandable that a being that was suffering would want to end it... But how did that apply to robots?

"Designation-Vitam expressed a desire to rejoin a 'matrix'. The connotations added in the data-stream indicated a religious meaning to the word." Legion stated, making Shepard's head hurt more. A robot that wanted to die and was _religious_?

Rubbing her forhead, Shepard asked, "Anything else you wanna add?"

Legion's brow-plates shifted a moment before he replied, "No relevant data."

Nodding, she muttered, "Dismissed."

Stepping back into the medbay, where Tali was working on parts that had practically fallen out of the robot, Shepard wondered just what the hell she had gotten into now.


	4. And Never Stops At All

_**Warbling in delight, I eagerly took the energon goodie from Ratchet's servo. Sure, I saw how scary he could be, but he had a soft spot for sparklings. Add in the variable of behaving during a check-up, and giving him the 'begging' optics, and he was wrapped around my digit.**_

_**Slowly munching on the treat, I gave Ratchet a joyous expression. Smiling down at me tenderly, he cooed, "You're precious, you little bitlit." Hic-cupping as my still-developing processor tried to translate what he said and keep me chewing on the goodie, I warbled around the mouthful of sweetness.**_

_**Squealing as I was tackled by Aura Tracer, Uncle Jazz and Uncle Prowl's sparkling, I rolled with the force until we were lying side by side. Grinning with the younger sparkling, I warbled a happy greeting to him, and he clicked a greeting back.**_

_**Remembering the energon goodie in my servos, I looked down at the treat, which only half remained of, and thrust my arms out towards Aura Tracer. Staring at the treat a moment, he chirred, then grabbed it with his less dextrous digits. Munching on it, he clicked something out behind the mouthful of treat and flailed an arm out for emphasis.**_

_**Clicking in laughter, I started screeching in fear as a loud wail filled the room. Filters covered the lights, dying the room red, as Ratchet cursed.**_

_**The few other sparklings on base were brought into the medbay, and all of us were hidden in a spare room. Aura Tracer had clung to my side, fearful of letting go. Throughout the ordeal, I kept up a facade of calm, keeping the other sparklings from crying. I could hear Ratchet and Ironhide and a whole lot of my uncles talking in the next room over.**_

_**Something dangerous was happening, and it had to do with us. Something about Decepticons and warning klaxons...**_

_**Standing there, soothing the distraught younglings through clicks and coos, I felt as if my meta was a system away, focused solely on the wail of the sirens.**_

_**That sound.**_

**That fear.**

That... That... Medbay?

Wait. Which medbay? Ratchet's? First Aid's? Since when did I end up in a medbay? What did I do to end up in the medbay?

Attempting to sit up to look around, my vision became blocked by multiple errors.

And that's when it came back to me.

_Screeching. Stop! Stop!_

_Pain! Grinding!_

_Watching the organics carry away my struts. Motors. Gears. T-cog._

_**Sitting in Ratchet's medbay, listening to him tell Magnus I may not be back in time for all my upgrades. Instructions being relayed how to install pieces. Parts.**_

_Meta-fritzing pain as the wires are severed. Pieces moved._

_**So long. So lonely. Still have Magnus. Says he has a surprise. Find T-cog installed the next orn. So happy. It's like Ratchet's here, even when he's not.**_

_Fear. Blinding fear as torch is taken to chestplates. Not hot enough to break through, but panic. Spark is beneath chestplates. Bonds are beneath chestplates. Creator is connected._

_Creator is panicked._

_Stopthem!Stopthem!Stopthem!_

_Activate emergency welds. Irons beneath chestplates heat rapidly. Hurts! Seals chesplates in bits. Spark safe._

_Spark..._

_Spark... Not safe..._

_Wh_ere?... Bonds?...

_Spark... Hidden... _

_N_o... Trap_ped..._

_Trapped in tortu_red memories...

Very... Very... Bad... Glit_**ches aren't, 'nothing'." Ratchet quoted the red bot seated atop his medberth. "You'd think with all the times you've glitched before, you'd learn by now."**_

_**Looking over at the mainly white mech sitting on the berth opposite the room from Ratchet, I tilted my helm as Wheeljack caught sight of me. Waving at me with the detatched arm he was holding in his good servo, he blinked a headfin in a wink and whispered, "Think you can soften Ratch' up for me, bitlit?"**_

_**Blinking up at him as Ratchet continued his tirade in the background, it took a moment for what he said to process, and my meta hiccupped as my optics trailed over to a slightly warped wall to my right. Wheeljack's lab had thick walls, and was next to the medbay for moment's like this, but even I knew it had to be bad.**_

_**Looking at Wheeljack, then the sparks starting to fly from Red Alert's helm again, I pinched my optics together and looked towards Wheeljack. Pointing to the red mech who looked to be in pain, I questioned, "You faul'?"**_

_**Looking sheepish and ashamed, Wheeljack replied, "Well," Looking over to see Ratchet needing to strap Red Alert down as he began flailing around, he continued sadly, "Yeah... I... I...**_

_I..._

_I... What?... What did I?..._

Focus. Glitching. I need... to stop _glitching hurts so bad! Wire-Wires connected-ed to ports-stealing sense-ca-an't think-taking thought-oughts-where am-am I?-_

_PRIMUSTHEPAINMAKEITSTOPWHYISTHISHAPPENINGAMIDYING__**ITHURTSANDISDARKANDISNOTHINGANDTHERE'SNOTHINGBUTPA INPAINPAINWHERE'SCREATORIWANTCREATORIWANTCARRIERPA INOFLOSINGCARRIERBUTLOSINGALLNOCARRIERNOCREATORNOM AGNUSWHERE'SEVERYONEWHERE'SRATCHETHELPMEICAN'T... I... CAN'T... PANIC... **__NEED... TOSTOP... PANICKING... GLITCHIS... IS... Going... out... of... control... Need... to... focus..._

_Need..._

To...

Vent...

Just... vent...

Cycle air.

Calm.

I... I'm calm. I'm here. I'm in control.

Using that control, I unshuttered my optics, dreading seeing the same glaring light as before. It was a painful reminder that I wasn't safe. That I wasn't home.

Wait a bit...

The ceiling was smooth, with seams running across each other, hidden in their own shadows. The lights were out of view, so there was no blindness.

Thinking either this was a dream or the last painful memories were a bad nightmare, I tried lifting my head, but found I couldn't.

Real.

This was real. Those organics... Humans. They had me strapped down with all that wiring and - _**PAIN**_ - disecting...

I could feel my systems heating up as I started to panic.

It was real. It _is_ real. They had - _**have**_ - me.

No. No, stop. _Stop. No..._

"Legion!" I cried out. I was falling back into a panic. The name... There was... rescue. I was rescued. Grasping onto that strand of hope, I called out the name again. If I was really rescued, if this is really real and not some delusion, then... then...

There was a hiss.

Then clanking.

* * *

_Click. Click. Click._

The ticking of the stylus off the desk echoed through the small cabin, mingling with the silent bubbling of aerated water.

Blue eyes stared unseeingly at the datapad, ignoring the information scrawled across it.

The clicking stopped with a sigh, as the stylus clattered to the table. Roughened hands wiped up and down a pale face, paying special attention to weary eyes.

_What was this?_

Shepard didn't know what to make of the robot - _Vitam_ - they had picked up from a Cerberus facility. When she first walked in that room, she was tempted to shoot it, wary Cerberus had been creating some kind of mini-reaper.

But it hadn't looked right.

Shepard wasn't an infiltrator, or even a sentinel, she was a vanguard for crying out loud! She shot or smashed, then asked questions later.

Thinking about how the armor looked peeled, burned, damaged, and missing in a few cases, she _knew_ it wasn't being built.

But sentient? Cybertronian? _Matrix_?

Thumping her head onto her desk, Shepard heaved a sigh, frustrated. How was she going to put that in a report to Hackett?

Then there was a fact she didn't even _know_ what a Cybertronian was. Was it like some kind of form of Geth? Did they have organic leaders they overthrew? How long have they been sentient?

Add in the fact they suffered...

Sitting up and pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes, she tried to figure out how a robot could _suffer_. A virus? Sure. Cut wires? Maybe. _Dented metal?_ How did that even hurt?

Contemplating an idea, the first human spectre looked towards the panel next to her door. Firming her resolve, she said, "EDI..."


End file.
